Love and War on the Dance Floor
by EvaCybele
Summary: Elena and Tseng go undercover at a party to find out who ordered a hit on Rufus Shinra. Set post-Advent Children. Written for the Fight Scene Fic contest at the LJ community ff land.


Elena brushed her hand over Tseng's hand, enjoying the feel of his arm wrapped securely around her waist. He was discussing the world's economy with a large group of important businessmen, including Reeve Tuesti, but considering that she either didn't understand or didn't care about what was being said, she didn't contribute much more to the conversation than her bracelet did – they both looked pretty and hung on an arm. It was annoying, sure, but her anxiousness was somewhat soothed by the small smiles that Tseng kept tossing her way.

Reno had no such distractions, and his whining in her ear was getting really annoying. "Am I seriously just going to have to watch you and Tseng make kissy-faces at each other all night? Gross, 'Lena. Kinda pathetic, too, if you think about it, though not half as pathetic as Rude making eyes at Lockheart over there. At least she's got a nice rack, you're kinda flat."

Literally biting her tongue in an effort to not respond with some scathing retort that would alert the other party-goers to the unseen presence of her fellow Turk, Elena plastered on a fake smile and excused herself to the ladies' room. She checked the stalls to be sure that she was alone, and then started in on Reno. "Would you cut it out? I'm supposed to be undercover here, and your stupid comments are so not helping. Why don't you do what you're supposed to be doing and watching our backs in here?"

Her earpiece crackled with a long-suffering sigh. "Yeah, yeah... I'll be good. It'd just be nice if something would fucking happen already. This shit is boring."

Elena nodded and checked her makeup in the mirror. "True, but we're supposed to be here to keep the President from being assassinated, right? That means that its good if we're bored." The WRO event was Rufus's first public appearance since Meteorfall – even after four years, people still hated Shinra. It wouldn't be at all surprising if the movers-and-shakers of the world, all gathered here, took offense at the presence of the former most powerful man on the Planet.

Silence was her only response. Reno must have gotten tired of listening to her logic and flipped over to monitor Rude or Tseng for a while. Elena checked her dress – the slits in the side were entirely too high for modesty's sake, and made her a little nervous, but they allowed for easy movement should she need it. Confident that she wasn't flashing anything more than thigh, the blonde made her way back into the large ballroom. She spotted the President flirting with several women while Rude looked on impassively, but her eyes swiftly focused on something else – Tseng, now detached from the circle of men, leaning against the bar. She took a moment to admire her boss for a minute – that suit fit him rather too well for her continued focus on the mission – then smiled warmly and sashayed over to him.

The long-haired man caught one of her hands and pressed a light kiss against the back of it. "Something bothering you, love?"

Even though she knew the endearment was part of their cover, it still made the tips of her ears turn pink with pleasure. The feel of his arms around her and the warmth of his voice would be haunting her dreams for a long time after this, Elena was certain. Hell of a lot better than silver-tinted nightmares filled with screams and the scent of blood and mako, that was for sure. She shook her head a little, trying to clear it and refocus. "Not terribly. Did you friends say anything interesting while I was gone?" Between her blonde hair, skintight black dress, and airheaded giggle, it would take someone very astute to realize that Elena was not the pampered mistress of a wealthy businessman that she pretended to be. Or someone very familiar with the Turks, and the few former members of AVALANCHE present were unlikely to give them away. Elena hoped so, at least. It's not like they had done anything to piss off Reeve or Tifa lately, but Barret was still the same loose cannon he'd always been, no matter that he was an oil tycoon now, instead of a rebel.

Tseng just sighed dramatically – well, for him, anyway, which is more like a normal sigh from anyone else – and shook his head. "All more business talk, I'm afraid. Nothing you'd be interested in."

Elena frowned as disappointment flickered through her. They were no closer to finding out who had ordered the hit on Rufus Shinra – because frankly, who didn't have some kind of grudge against the Shinra Company? The President and his father had made a lot of enemies. She glanced back up at Tseng's face and remembered that she was supposed to be carrying on a conversation, so she smiled and said, "Work, work, work. That's all you ever do. Learn to have some fun once in a while!" No one else would catch the hint of irony behind her words, but Tseng obviously did, a faint gleam of real amusement in his eyes as he laughed softly.

"That's your job, remember?" He smiled as he tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and led her out onto the dance floor.

They danced for a while, Tseng leading them smoothly around the room, making even Elena's clumsy dancing look effortless. It was in the midst of a waltz that something finally happened – she may not have noticed, if it weren't for the fact that she was staring dreamily up at Tseng. His expression sharpened from watchful to alert, eyes focusing over her shoulder, a half-second before he whirled her around and kicked an unassuming man in the knee. His leg buckled, but he finished pulling the half-drawn gun from its holster. Elena watched her boss smoothly disarm and knock the would-be assassin unconscious with a swift tap to the skull from the pistol. It was beautiful, really – watching Tseng fight was a pleasure that most people never experienced.

Elena's admiration for the Turk leader's form was rudely interrupted by Reno groaning in her ear. "They brought ninjas? Are you fucking _kidding_ me? 'Lena, you better check your ass before one of the shuriken-throwing bastards does it for you."

The blonde jerked her head around and spotted the black-shrouded Wutainese man slip from the shadows, bee-lining for Rufus. Without thought, she stepped into his path, knee making contact with his crotch. The ninja doubled over in pain, and Elena used the opportunity to slam her knee into his nose, splattering blood all over the gold dragons decorating her black silk dress.

_That _got their attention. Two other men lunged for her, and Elena dropped to a crouch, sweeping one long leg in a wide arc, dropping one. The other nimbly jumped her leg and grabbed her hair. He wrenched her head back and pulled her to her feet, a knife in his free hand. Elena wrapped her hands around the arm holding her up and kicked both feet straight out into his stomach, driving him to the ground. She landed in a crouch on his chest and punched him solidly in the throat.

Her bare shoulder flared with pain, three small shurikens embedded deep within it. The man she'd dropped was back up, and he looked _pissed_. Fortunately, so was Elena. She stood and lunged at him, manicured nails digging into the ninja's unprotected eyes. He reeled away, hands pressed to his eyes, blood running in streams between his fingers. She stepped and kicked her leg out in a high arc, ripping the man's throat out with the steel-reinforced heel of her stiletto.

"Woah, 'Lena, remind me not to piss you off. Nut-crushing, throat-punching, and eye-gouging, all in one fight? You fight fucking _dirty_. I'm impressed. By the way, I think crotch-guy's still alive."

Elena's lips curled in a feral smile as she ran one gore-covered hand through her short hair. "Well, I learned from the best." Her own martial arts style worked well in most cases, but she had to admit – though messy, Reno's brawling, honed in back-alley bars below Plate (back when there was a Plate) got results. Especially with her movement hampered by her heels and dress.

Now that she had room to breathe, she glanced around the ballroom – most people had cleared out, shepherded by Reeve and Lockheart, undoubtedly. There were a small pile of ninjas at Rude's feet, the President leaning casually against a wall behind him. There was a reason that Rude was the one picked for bodyguard duty for this mission, and it wasn't purely his imposing stature.

She gritted her teeth and yanked the shurikens from her shoulder in quick succession, grunting in pain. Elena glanced back over at the man lying on the floor, face already black and blue from his now-flattened nose. She hauled him up by his bodysuit, glaring. Not that he could see it, with his eyes swelled shut like that, but still. "Who sent you?"

All she received in response was a gurgled whimper. Annoyed, the blonde woman dropped him back to the floor, his skull cracking loudly against the tile. She straightened her dress and walked over to the President and Rude. "Sorry sir. I don't think any of them are in any shape to give us any information."

Rufus just chuckled and brushed a lock of hair from his eyes. "That's alright. I'd rather you err on this side of things than the other." He was turning to say something to Rude when a shape detached itself from the shadows behind him and a long blade appeared at his throat.

Elena froze. From the corner of her eye, she could see that Rude had done the same – neutralizing threats was their specialty, but there was no way either of them could get to the assailant before he could cut the President's throat.

The man holding the knife smiled a death's head grin. "Wutai will never suffer the yolk of Shinra again! The dynasty of destruction ends here, today, by my ha-" The man's monologue abruptly cut off as blood fountained from the back of his head. It was only then that Elena registered the crack of the gunshot and the whoosh of air as the bullet passed inches from her cheek. Rufus stepped to the side as the man crumpled, a bloody hole in the precise center of the ninja leader's forehead. It was a weird sort of complement to the tilak that adorned the forehead of the man who killed him.

Unfazed, Tseng walked up to Rufus, the gun now tucked back into his suit. His pristine appearance made Elena suddenly hyper-aware of the bloody mess that covered her, from red-tinged hair down to blood-soaked heels. Apparently the same thing occurred to Rufus – that and she likely smelled god-awful. She bolted to the bathroom as soon as she was excused, doing her best to scrape off the layers of filth.

She was muttering to herself, "Great job Elena, freezing like a freaking green recruit, haven't been this much of a disgrace since I got captured by that creeper Corneo," and dunking her head under the faucet when she heard the door creak open. Tseng slipped quietly into the bathroom, watching her in that quiet manner that he had.

Elena jerked around, startled. Shoving a dripping lock of somewhat-cleaner blonde hair out of her eyes, she furrowed her brow at her boss. "Sir. Shouldn't you be with the President?"

Tseng just walked over to her, resting a hand on her shoulder. "He left with Rude and Reno. I came back in to get you."

Goosebumps broke out all over her bare shoulders, and it probably wasn't from the cold water dripping from her hair. She watched as Tseng slipped out of his suit jacket, holding it out to her. No man had a right to be that graceful and good-looking.

Elena slid the jacket on and took the hand Tseng was holding out to her. They walked out into the ballroom in silence, but the carnage that had been left in their wake made her stop and stare for a moment. The places where she'd been fighting were especially messy. "Reeve is going to have one hell of a cleaning bill."

She heard a soft sound of amusement off to her side. "I'm sure the President will send him the money to cover it." Tseng took her elbow and briskly escorted her the rest of the way out of the hotel, and into the fancy car they'd rented as part of their cover. Elena sighed softly to herself – the night had been going so well, too...

She peeked over at Tseng, now settled in the driver's seat, the headlights from other cars creating a strange play of light and shadow across the angular lines of his face.

"I'm sorry about freezing up like that, sir. There was no excuse for it. I promise that I'll do better next time." She braced herself for the quiet disappointment in his voice that was more painful than any dressing-down he could give. Instead he just shook his head.

"Elena, you took the best course of action available to you at the time. Anything you or Rude could have done would have put the President's life in danger. Whatever your reasoning, your instincts were correct. Don't worry about it."

She settled back for a while, mulling that over, then cleared her throat nervously. "Sir, I've been meaning to ask you...Why was I assigned to accompany you on this mission? We both know that my strengths lie in my combat abilities, and there was a very good chance that I could have said something stupid to blow our cover."

Tseng gave her one of his appraising glances before turning his attention back to the road. "You're a valuable asset to the team, and not just because of your martial skills. You're a small, attractive female. It's easy for most people underestimate you – you can walk in on the President's arm and people will assume that you're no threat. This allows him to be guarded even if Rude or I were to be neutralized. Also, as you saw tonight, men are willing to talk around you, assuming you're nothing more than another symbol of wealth, like an expensive watch or a house in Costa del Sol. That puts you in a position of power over them."

"Well, _that's_ flattering." Elena scowled into the darkness. She liked her job, enjoyed the respect that the blue suit afforded her. To have that taken away was more than a little irritating.

A soft huff of laughter came from the seat beside her. "Unfortunately, most men with power look at the world that way. Perhaps it is insulting, but we would be fools not to take advantage of it. So yes, tonight was training in a sense. But I was also testing some advice that I had been given."

The blonde blinked at her boss in confusion. "Advice, sir?"

"Yes. Rufus told me that boring parties tend to go much faster with a beautiful woman on one's arm. I am happy to have found out that he was right."

She had ignored the comment about her attractiveness earlier – that had been a logical, objective assessment of her strengths. This time, though...from anyone else, that would have sounded flirty. Elena eyed the man speculatively from the corner of her eye. This wouldn't be the first time that she'd read too much into something that someone had said. Plus, he was her boss. Tseng was nothing if not professional – it was one of the things that she loved about him.

Tseng sighed as he slid the car easily into a parking spot in front of the fancy, Shinra-owned hotel they were staying at and turned his full attention to her. "Elena. Stop trying to over analyze things."

"Sir, I - "

His lips thinned slightly. "We're off the clock – you can call me Tseng."

"Oh, sorry, I mean - " She was about to say something stupid, she could just _feel_ it, but thankfully Tseng managed to save her from herself. He leaned in and his fingers slid along her jaw, thumb brushing against the scar next to her mouth, a reminder of the horror that they'd shared and survived. His lips slid softly against hers, warm and firm and perfect. She was feeling a little fuzzy when he let her go, which probably explains why the next thing out of her mouth was "But I still have eyeball goop in my hair."

She slapped a hand over her mouth as soon as the words left it. Tseng had been kissing her (even with the eyeball goop), which was _awesome_, and she had to go and ruin it by saying _that_? Elena prayed hard that the Lifestream would burst out of the ground and swallow her right then, because that was probably worse than accidentally blabbing secrets to AVALANCHE back when it mattered.

Eyes glinting with what she was hoping was amusement, Tseng nodded. "You do. Perhaps you'd like to go take a shower, and we can continue our conversation later?"

"You could come with me." She blinked and abruptly turned a bright shade of red. "Oh fuck, did I really just _say_ that? Planet save me I am such a moron." Her head thumped against the window and she stared out at the night, biting her lips to keep any other stupid remarks from slipping out. She glanced up and saw Reno hanging out of the window a couple floors up, eyebrows wiggling suggestively. Apparently he'd seen the whole thing. Fan-freaking-tastic.

Tseng just stared at her for a moment, at a complete loss. Then the edge of his mouth quirked up in a slight grin. "Well, unfortunately, I need to make my report to the President, but I will take a rain check on that offer. After our next date, perhaps?"

Elena eyed Tseng speculatively. Next date? Did that mean that tonight had been a first date? Not perfect, but it had been pretty good before work got in the way. Hearing a sharp whistle and muffled cat-calls from the window above the car, Elena grimaced. "Can we leave the ninjas and Reno at home next time?"

He smiled at her, soft and warm and full of promise. "Absolutely."


End file.
